ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 



169 



A UKire exteudod tost wats iiiadc l)y J. I'lohinaii in a comparison of ryo and oats 

 with niiU'li cow.s. Tlie tesstH wen; cairii'd on during different periods of lactation, 

 the cows being given tlie 2 feeds alternately in order to eliminate the factor of indi- 

 viduality. The coarse feed was 15 lbs. of clover hay, 12 lbs. of straw, and 2 lbs. of 

 cocoannt cake daily. The concentrated feed was 6 11)S. of ground rye or ground 

 oats. The day's rations i-ontained practically the same amounts of protein, the fat 

 being larger in the case of tlie oatmeal ration. 



The test e.xtended from November 25 to January 8, and was divided into 3 periods 

 of 10 days each, with 5 days interval between. In every case it was found that the 

 oatmeal ration gave a larger production of milk than the rye meal ration. The fat 

 content of the dry substance of the milk was higher in every case with the oatmeal 

 ration. The following table shows the result by i)eriods: 



Fat in the dry substance of tlie milk. 



Period 1 

 Period 2 

 Period 3 



Cow No. 1. 



Ration. 



Oats . . . . 

 Rye .... 

 Oats . . . . 



Fat in to- 

 tal solid.s. 



Per cent. 

 28.77 

 26. 24 

 28.67 



Cow No. 2. 



Ration. 



Rye .... 



Oats 



Rye .... 



Fat in to- 

 tal solids. 



Per cent. 

 26.41 

 26.98 

 24.48 



The specific gravity of the milk was in every case lower on the oat ration than on 

 the rye ration. Of the butter made during the different feeding periods, no differ- 

 ence was noticed in the grain or taste, but that made on the rye ration was harder, 

 while that made on the oat ration had a deeper yellow color. No bad effects on the 

 animals were noticed in feeding the r3'e ration. 



As analysis shows, rye grain is poor in fat, and hence it is recommended to feed it 

 with coarse food rich in fat or in connection with oil cake. 



Tests uith sheep (pp. 491-500). — Tests made by P. Kasimirsky, on the comparative 

 digestibility of rye and oats by two sheep and the effects of these grains on the digest- 

 ibility of hay, are reported. The ration consisted of 700 gm. of hay and 300 gm. of 

 grain per day. The usual experimental methods were followed, the coefhcients* of 

 digestil)ility of the rye and oats alone being calculated from the digestibility of the 

 whole ration, as described in a previous publication (E. 8. R., 10, p. 1083). The 

 average results follow: 



Coefficients of iVujestibllitij ufhaij, oats, and rye; average of two sheep. 



Protein. 



Fat. 



Crude 

 fiber. 



Nitrogen- 

 free ex- 

 tract. 



Ash. 



Hay and oats: 



"Calculated diKostibility of hay alone . 



Calculated digestibility of oats alone . 

 Hay and rye: 



Calculated digestibility of hay alone . 



Calculated digestibility of rye alone ., 



Per cent. 

 68.83 

 81.61 



44. 22 

 68.00 



Per cent. 

 64.08 

 93.72 



67.75 

 30.83 



Per cent. 

 44.22 

 71.98 



41.08 

 7.00 



Per cent. 

 48.43 

 82.35 



58. 72 

 77. 20 



Per cent. 

 41.57 

 45.79 



The author calls attention to the fact that when rye formed part of the ration the 

 digestibility of protein and crude filler of the hay was diminished, while that of the 

 nitrogen-free extract was increased; furthermore, the fat of rye was nmch less thor- 

 oughly digestetl than the fat of oats. 



Te.tts irltJi pigs (pp. 500-504). — On the basis of tests carried on by ydiukowski, the 

 comparative value of rye, barley and milk for pigs, is discussed. Two i>igs were 

 fed rye with whole milk for 17 days. Barley was then substituted for rye until the 

 end of the feeding jieriod, which covered 142 days. Two similar pigs were fed barley 

 for 68 days and then rye alone or rye and barley for the remainder of the test. The 



